Sometimes I do believe that you can recognize someone even before they tell you their name. And you might just think at first that it’s because they look like somebody else, which can be true as well, but sometimes the more you look at them and the more you listen to them, you think to yourself, no, no, it’s not somebody else I am thinking about, I know YOU. And sometimes you just get off the subway or keep on walking and the thirty seconds is over but sometimes, as crazy as it is that they would leave, they don’t, and it will be hard to remember that there was ever, not together.
If you can trust yourself on this, you can really make it work for you when it comes to cooking. You won’t have to worry about what the rules are and what the book says, you will just put the ripe tomato that you may have never had before picked right off of the vine right before it was about to fall, into your mouth and you will say, “all you need is salt.” You may meet a sweet, soft mango and think to yourself, I would like to introduce you to an avocado and his cousin, Baby Red Onion.
For dinner I have no idea what I’m making. I am about to get in the car and go to the grocery store and see if I can’t feel my way to a menu. But just in case you’re on a schedule, try the salad with fresh mango, avocado. red onion or shallot, a squeeze of fresh lime juice, a dribble of orange juice and a little olive oil, salt and pepper with just a few spicy arugula leaves. On the side or in the middle, sea scallops, seasoned with sea salt and then seared in a hot and heavy pan that has been glazed with olive oil, then lifted up and left to rest in a colander set over a bowl. Wipe out the pan, melt a tablespoon of butter over low heat, set in a whole clove of garlic cut in half and a sprig of thyme, a sprig of parsley (both uncut) and when all that is starting to melt and sizzle, toss in the scallops, and immediately turn off the heat. Give them a squeeze of lime juice and serve. This is good with just a little bit of polenta, or if anybody is making them, a couple of tamales.